Teacher at the Livermore Grammar School, 1894 to 1902
Newspaper Items
1882–1883 school year
"Mottsville School Reports", Seven Items, Genoa Weekly Courier, 24 Nov 1882 to 8 June 1883
Item Number: n750
Grouped Items:
Genoa Weekly Courier, 24 Nov 1882, pg 2, col 3, under "Monthly Report of Mottsville School"
Item Number: n1
Summary: Report of Montsville School District No. 3., L. M. Nance, Teacher, for the month of Oct 16, 1882 to Nov 10, 1882. It includes a table showing days (out of 20) present, absent, and tardy, and "standing" (a score, for which 100 is perfect) for each student.
Note: Mary, Annie, Robert, and John Bull are among the students listed in the table. They are listed as the children of W. F. Bull on page 38 of the 1880 census for Douglas County, NV., dwelling 250. The dwelling of D. I. Jones, dwelling 251, is the next dwelling after that of W. F. Bull on the census page, which means that the Jones dwelling was the next dwelling visited by the enumerator, which means the two dwellings were probably near each other. Mary Bull married Israel Jones, son of D. I. Jones. Henry, Ernest, and Sophia Rabe are also listed in the table. They are listed as the children of Chris Rabe in dwelling 246 on page 37 of the census. John L. Boston, Nellie's father, is also listed in that household.
Genoa Weekly Courier, 15 Dec 1882, pg 2, col 3, under "Monthly Report of Mottsville School"
Item Number: n2
Summary: Report for the month of Nov 13 to Dec 8. Israel Jones is listed in this report. It includes the same table as the previous report. This report gives an explanation of "standing" as being a composite of recitations, attendance, and deportment.
Genoa Weekly Courier, 26 Jan 1883, pg 3, col 3, under "Monthly Report of Mottsville School"
Item Number: n3
Summary: Report of Mottsville School District No. 3 for the month of Dec 11, 1882 to Jan 16, 1883 [not what it says, but this must be what is meant]. Same table as in the previous reports.
Genoa Weekly Courier, 23 Feb 1883, pg 3, col 3, under "Monthly Report of Mottsville School"
Item Number: n4
Summary: Report of Mottsville School District No. 3, Jan 17, 1883 to Feb 16, 1883 [not what it says, but what it says can't be correct]. The usual table showing present, absent, tardy, and standing for each student.
Genoa Weekly Courier, 16 March 1883, pg 3, col 4, under "Monthly Report of Mottsville School"
Item Number: n5
Summary: Report for the month of Feb 14, 1883 to March 13, 1883, L. M. Nance, Teacher. The usual table showing present, absent, tardy, and standing for each student.
Genoa Weekly Courier, 11 May 1883, pg 3, col 3, under "Monthly Report of Mottsville School"
Item Number: n6
Summary: Report of Mottsville School District No. 3, for the month ending May 8, 1883; L. M. Nance, Teacher. The usual table showing present, absent, tardy, and standing for each student.
Genoa Weekly Courier, 8 June 1883, pg 3, col 4, under "Mottsville School Report"
Item Number: n7
Summary: Report of Mottsville School District No. 3, for the month ending June 2, 1883; L. M. Nance, Teacher. The usual table showing present, absent, tardy, and standing for each student.
Genoa Weekly Courier, 28 Dec 1883, pg 3, col 2, under "The Mottsville Exhibition, Christmas Tree and Ball"
Item Number: n8
Summary: A program of Christmas entertainment by the Mottsville School students, Katie Taylor, Teacher. The newspaper printed the full program, which consisted of songs, declamations, recitations, etc. Nellie performed a recitation entitled "Little Sunshine".
Summary: John Boston was adjudged insane and taken to the Asylum at Reno
Note: This article appeared next to the school report, in which Nellie was listed among the students. Nellie was 8 or 9. Her father lived nearby and was well known in the area, so she probably knew.
Genoa Weekly Courier, 13 June 1884, pg 3, col 2, untitled item
Item Number: n12
Summary: The newspaper attended the closing exercises at the Mottsville school on the previous Friday, called it "a very enjoyable affair", and gave a brief description. No names were mentioned.
Full Text: John Boston of Sheridan is insane. He was taken to Carson early this morning by Sheriff Williams and [?] Harris, where the unfortunate man will have an examination and then be placed in the Asylum at Reno.
Summary: List of students at Mottsville school who passed their yearly examination. Nellie Boston is in 1st Division. She also received the prize for excellent spelling.
"Mottsville School Reports", Four tems, Genoa Weekly Courier, 18 Nov 1887 to 13 April 1888
Item Number: n751
Grouped Items:
Genoa Weekly Courier, 18 Nov 1887, pg 3, col 5, under "Mottsville School: Teacher's Monthly Report to the Trustees and Patrons"
Item Number: n15
Summary: Report for the month ending Nov 4, 1887. Enrollment was 42. Includes a list of 42 students, grouped into "Grammar", "Intermediate", and "Primary" divisions. Nellie is in the Grammar division [she is 12 or 13 years old]. The teacher is Mary D. Mott.
Genoa Weekly Courier, 13 April 1888, pg 3, col 5, under "Report of Mottsville School for Month Ending Mar. 30, '88"
Item Number: n18
Summary: Total enrollment is 40. A list of students with a single number representing attendance, scholarship, and deportment. Teacher is Mary D. Mott.
[ Nellie's father, John L. Boston, died on June 9, 1889 at the Nevada State Insane Asylum. His death was not reported in the Genoa Weekly Courier. He was buried in the Asylum's cemetery. ]
1889–1890 school year
Genoa Weekly Courier, 4 Oct 1889, pg 3, col 3, under "Mottsville School"
Item Number: n20
Summary: Report for the month ending Sept 27, 1889. 29 students are listed. Nellie's score was lowered by absence. Ella Smart, Teacher.
Genoa Weekly Courier, 1 Nov 1889, pg 3, col 2, an untitled item
Item Number: n21
Full Text: Miss Josie Tippets of Petaluma, who has been visiting Miss Nettie Van Sickle the past few months, has returned home. Miss Nellie Boston accompanied her as far as St. Helena, where she intends remaining several months.
Genoa Weekly Courier, 6 Feb 1891, pg 3, col 5, under "School Report"
Item Number: n27
Summary: Nellie Boston is on the Mottsville School honor roll for the month ending Jan 30, 1891; Viola Stewart, Principal and Jennet Van Sickle, Assistant. Total enrollment is 45.
Morning Appeal (Carson City, NV), 29 June 1892, pg 3, col 3, under "Carson High School: Program of Commencement Exercises for Thursday"
Item Number: n29
Summary: Program for the Carson High School commencement exercises. Nellie participated in a debate. Although she participated in the program, she is probably not one of the graduates.
Morning Appeal (Carson City, NV), 11 July 1893, pg 3, col 4, under "The New Teachers"
Item Number: n34
Summary: A list of people granted teachers' certificates as a result of an examination "held under the new law". Nellie Boston was granted a first grade certificate.
Notes: 1. The "new law" was "An Act to Provide for Uniform Examinations for Teachers' Certificates ...", passed by the Nevada Legislature on March 6, 1893. See below. 2. The article doesn't say so, but the people listed were probably only those who took the test administered by the Ormsby County Board of Examiners at Carson High School. Under the new law, the exam could be given by any county that had an interest in giving the exam. I searched, but did not find an announcement of the exam being given in Douglas County. The certificates granted by Ormsby County were not automatically valid in Douglas County, but there was a process by which the State could endorse a certificate of one county so that it was valid in another county.
Daily Nevada State Journal (Reno, NV), 11 July, 1893, pg 3, col 3, untitled item
Genoa Weekly Courier, 14 July 1893, pg 6, col 1, an untitled item
Item Number: n32
Full Text: Miss Nellie Boston of Carson Valley was graduated from the Carson High School and this week was granted a first grade certificate in the examination held under the new law.
Note: Laura Beckstead, and her sister Emma, were either close friends or family of the Dungans. Nellie visited Laura twice as an adult, and Emma visited the Dungans in Woodland.
Genoa Weekly Courier, 1 Sept 1893, pg 1, col 2, untitled item under "Fairview Siftings"
Item Number: n354
Full Text: Miss Nellie Boston departed last Saturday to visit her aunt Mrs. Jesse Dungan, at Livermore, Cal. The length of her visit is as yet undecided.
Full Text: The county examination of applicants for teachers' certificates is in progress at the Oaland High school building with about forty applicants undergoing the ordeal. County Superintendent Frick and Directors W. F. B. Lynch and Rutherford are conducting the examination, which will close to-morrow [Dec 22]. As there are about twenty separate papers to each applicant, to be carefully gone over, it will be fully a week later before the result of the test is prepared for announcement.
Summary: Results of a recent examination for Alameda county teachers' certificates. Nellie I. Boston was awarded a primary certificate.
Note: A primary certificate was good for two years and qualified the recipient to teach in a primary school (or in the primary grades of a school). See Political Code of the State of California, 1889, below.
Summary: List of teachers elected by the trustees for the coming term.
Excerpt: Principal, J. D. Smith; W. M. Doyal, T. A. Spaulding, Misses May Gregory, Maggie McKee, Ella Weymouth, Lizzie Waltenbaugh, Nellie Boston, Lottie Cozad, Emma C. Smith and Lillie Meyers.
Note: James D. Smith was the principal and owner of the Livermore Collegiate Institute (a. k. a. "Livermore College") from 1875 through 1893. This was his first and only year as principal of the Livermore Grammar School. W. M. Doyal/Doyle was an 1877 graduate of the College. He and T. A. Spaulding had been Smith's assistants at the college. Lottie Cozad was an 1893 graduate of the College. Maggie McKee was an 1883 graduate of the College. Ella Weymouth and Lizzie Waltenbaugh were graduates of the State Normal School at San Jose. Lillie Meyers was an 1894 graduate of the Livermore Union High School.
St. Helena Star (St. Helena, CA), 5 Oct 1894, pg 2, col 4, untitled item under "Personal"
Item Number: n39
Full Text: Miss Nellie Boston of Livermore spent several days in St. Helena the first of the week the guest of Mrs. W. F. Mixon. Miss Boston attended school in St. Helena for several months five years ago, making her home with Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Dungan. She is now a teacher in the Livermore public school.
Notes: Mrs. J. H. Dungan was Nellie's aunt. Mrs. W. F. Mixon was J. H. Dungan's sister.
Genoa Weekly Courier, 11 Jan 1895, pg 6, col 1, an untitled item
Item Number: n40
Full Text: Miss Nellie Boston arrived Friday evening from Livermore, Cal. She came to see her grandfather, D. I. Jones who was stricken with paralysis last week. Mr. Jones is reported better.
Note: Dora Cheney was her eighth grade classmate during her brief time in the St. Helena Public School (see above).
Related Items:
St. Helena Star, 23 Aug 1895, pg 3, col 6, untitled item under "Personal"
Item Number: n43
Full Text: Miss Nellie Boston, a teacher in Livermore, spent Wednesday in St. Helena with Mrs. W. F. Mixon. She was en route home from Lake county where she spent her vacation with Miss Dora Cheney.
Notes: This makes the family relationship between Nellie and Mrs J. H. Dungan explicit, which was an important clue in finding Nellie's parents. The Woodland Daily Democrat was not J. H. Dungan's newspaper. But as editor of one of the town's newspapers Dungan was a prominent person, and the Woodland Daily Mail regularly reported items on him and his family. There are no issues of the Woodland Mail in either the CDNC or Newpapers.com.
Notes: According to Homan's book (pg. 138), J. O. McKown was not only part-owner of McKown and Mess Drug Store, but a stringer for Oakland and San Francisco newspapers.
Woodland Daily Democrat (Woodland, CA), 23 Dec 1896, pg 3, col 1, untitled item at the bottom of the column
Item Number: n54
Full Text: Miss Nellie Boston, of Livermore, is visiting with Editor Dungan and wife.
Notes: 1. "Rebekahs" was originaly an auxiliary of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.), for the wives, daughters, and widows of I.O.O.F. members. By 1897 it was open to all (white) women ("International Association of Rebekah Assemblies", Wikipedia). 2. Ella Weymouth, Lizzie Waltenbaugh, Rose Ismert, and Daisy Righter were also Livermore teachers. Abert and Frances Weymouth were involved according to later newspaper items.
Livermore Herald, 17 April 1897, pg 7, col 4, untitled item
Item Number: n527
Summary: Suprise party in which Nellie was a participant
Summary: Teachers' Certificates were granted at a meeting of the County Board of Education. Nellie I. Boston was granted a renewal of her primary grade certificate.
Note: "Mrs. W. F. Mixon" and "Miss Jewel Dungan" are sisters of J. H. Dungan, a. k. a. Venie and Julie Dungan. Miss Dungan is about four years younger than Nellie; Mrs. Mixon is about six years older.
Related Items:
Woodland Daily Democrat, 8 Jan 1900, pg 1, col 3, untitled item under "Purely Personal"
Item Number: n75
Full Text: Miss Nellie Boston has returned to Livermore, after a visit with J. H. Dungan and wife.
Woodland Daily Democrat, 25 March 1901,, pg 1, col 2, untitled item under "Local Brevities"
Item Number: n82
Excerpt: A party consisting of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Dungan, ..., Miss Nellie Boston, Miss Jule Dungan, Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Mixon [and others] ... picnicked at Coll's Grove on Sunday.
Full Text: During the present week three teachers in the Livermore Grammar school have tendered their resignations to the trustees — Miss Ella Weymouth, to accept a position in the Berkeley school department; Miss Nellie Boston, to take a newly created position in the Haywards Grammar School, and Miss Lulu Aylward, who has made no announcement of her plans. All three of these ladies are teachers of the highest merit and ability, and Principal Martin and the patrons of the school regret to see them leave. The trustees met Friday and elected Miss Evelyn Gallagher, Miss Stella Waggoner and Miss Shirley Hayes to fill the vacancies.
Note: the "newly created position" in the Haywards Grammar School was to relieve overcrowding. See the 25 October Oakland Tribune item below. Petray was the new principal at Haywards Grammar School.
Excerpt: The Haywards Public School has been greatly overcrowded this term and the condition was not relieved until recently, when a number of pupils from each room were placed in another room, and an extra teacher employed. The new class has been installed in the laboratory, with Miss N. Boston of Livermore, as teacher.
Daily Appeal (Marysville, CA), 23 Oct 1902, pg 5, col 3, under "Woodland: From Wednesday's Mail"
Item Number: n529
Full Text: Miss Nellie Boston, well known in this city, has resigned her school at Livermore and has accepted a position in the public school at Haywards.
Oakland Tribune, 26 Jan 1903, pg 3, col 3, in the "Haywards, San Leandro, Elmhurst, Fruitvale" section, in a column of Livermore items under "Picnic Grounds at Livermore"
Item Number: n651
Full Text: Miss Nellie Boston of Haywards spent Saturday and Sunday in town as the guest of Mrs. T. E. Konx [should be "Knox"].
Woodland Daily Democrat, 1 Aug 1903, pg 1, col 2, untitled item under "Purely Personal" at the top of col 1
Item Number: n94
Full Text: Mrs. J. H. Dungan and little daughter and sister, Miss Nellie Boston, left for San Francisco this morning. They expect to be absent about a month.
Dunsmuir News (Dunsmuir, Siskiyou County, CA), 29 July 1905, pg 3, col 6, under "Shasta Retreat"
Item Number: n506
Full Text: A party of six young ladies, Nellie Boston, Ada Bistorous [sic], Ella Jensen, Elinor Brown, Elsie Lavallie, Alice Applegarth made the trip to Castle lake the last of the week.
Note: All were Hayward/Laurel Grammar School teachers at the time, except possibly Elinor Brown. She appears in the list of teachers in the Hayward Review, 16 July 1909, pg 5, col 3. We don't have issues of the Hayward Review bewteen October 1902 and 1909, so it is difficult to figure out when she started teaching there.
1905–1906 school year
Oakland Tribune, 2 Dec 1905, pg 18, col 6, untitled item in a column of Livermore items under "Military Ball a Success"
Item Number: n474
Full Text: Miss Nellie Boston of Haywards spent Thanksgiving with Mr. and Mrs. T. E. Knox.
Berkeley Daily Gazette, 14 Feb 1906, pg 4, col 3, excerpt under "Blumb Chosen Principal", from "To Readvertise for Plans—Accepts Bid on Piedmont School", pg 1, cols 2–3, continued on pg 4, col 3.
Item Number: n497
Summary: An excerpt from an article on business conducted in a meeting of the Berkeley School Board. Principal Elmer E. Nichols of the Lincoln school resigned and Joseph L. Blumb was elected to replace him.
Summary: Excerpt from an article on a Berkeley School Board meeting. Receipt of applications was reported. Nellie's application was one of seven received.
Summary: Article on a a regular meeting of the School Board business on Aug 14. The superintendent reported that, as part of an effor to accomodate the increased enrollment, he had established fourteen new half-day classes, six at Whittier and eight at McKinley. And he submitted a list of teachers that had been hired. Nellie Boston was on the list.
Oakland Tribune, 15 Aug 1906, pg 5, col 5, untitled item
Item Number: n100
Full Text: Miss Nellie I. Boston, who for four years has been known as an efficient teacher in the Hayward grammar school, has resigned to accept a position in a Berkeley school.
Note: This item appears on the page as if it was the second paragraph of an article under "Lodge Entertains Its May Guest", but it is a separate item.
Related Items:
Oakland Enquirer, 18 Aug 1906, pg 6, col 4, under "Becomes Berkeley Resident"
Item Number: n493
Full Text: Miss Nellie I. Boston, formerly a teacher in the Livermore Grammar School, has resigned her position in the Haywards Grammar School to accept one in the Berkeley School Department.
Berkeley Daily Gazette, 20 Aug 1906, pg 4, col 3, untitled item under "Personal Column"
Item Number: n495
Full Text: Miss Nellie I. Boston, who has accepted a position in the public schools of this city, was formerly a teacher in the grammar school at Livermore.
Oakland Enquirer, 20 Oct 1906, pg 11, col 1, under "Notes from Monterey" on the previous page
Item Number: n101
Excerpt: Miss Ella Weymouth and Miss Rose Ismert, both teachers in the Berkeley schools, are spending their vacation in the Grove. Some other Alameda County teachers here are: Miss Ella Jensen, Miss Ada Bistorious, and Miss Eleanore Brown of Hayward, and Miss Nellie I. Boston and Miss Ella Jones of Berkeley
The Berkeley schools started the first week of August and had a mid-term break in October.
Oakland Tribune, 22 April 1907, pg 25, col 5, untitled item in a column of Livermore items
Item Number: n508
Full Text: Mrs. Joseph Blum [sic], Misses Ella Weymouth, Nellie Boston and Rose Ismert, all of whom were formerly teachers in the local grammar school, but now reside in Oakland, were up to spend Saturday and Sunday with friends here.
Note: Eva Weymouth married Joseph L. Blumb in 1901. According to Husted's 1907 Directory, below, they were all living at 1916 Woolsey in Berkeley.
1907–1908 school year
Berkeley Daily Gazette, 29 May 1907
Summary: The Berkeley School Board elected teachers for the following school year. The list of Grammar school teachers includes Nellie I. Boston, Ella L. Weymouth, and Rose Ismert. The teachers were not listed by their current school assignment, so we can't use this list to verify that Nellie was teaching at the Lincoln school in the 1906–1907 school year.
Summary: School assignments reported: Nellie Boston to Longfellow School; Joseph L. Blumb, principal of Lincoln School; Ella L. Weymouth to Lincoln School; Rose Ismert to Washington School.
Summary: Rose S. Ismert, Washington Grammar; Nelle I. Boston, Longfellow Primary; Joseph L. Blumb, principal, Lincoln Grammar; Ella L. Weymouth, Lincoln Grammar.
Summary: Principals and regular teachers re-elected for the 1909-1910 school year: Joseph L. Blumb, Principal of Lincoln school; Rose Ismert, Ella L. Weymouth, and Nellie I. Boston were on the list of regular teachers (school not indicated).
Oakland Tribune, 18 June 1911, pg 33, col 5, under "Livermore Notes"
Item Number: n112
Full Text: Misses Rose Ismert, Nellie Boston, Ella Weymouth, and Ada Jordan, all formerly of this place, now of Berkeley, will leave shortly on a vacation trip to Yosemite Valley.
Summary: Superintendent recommended re-election of principals and teachers, including Joseph L. Blumb, Nelle I. Boston, Ella Weymouth, Rose S. Ismert, and Ada Jordan.
Woodland Daily Democrt, 19 July 1912, pg 2, col 1, untitled item under "Brief Mention of Preambulations of the People: Which Deals Mostly with Their Departures and Arrivals at Woodland" [probably "Perambulations" is meant]
Item Number: n522
Full Text: Miss Nellie Boston of Berkeley is the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Beverly Coil for a few days.
Note: Mrs. Beverly Coil is the former Holly Dungan.
1912–1913 school year
Berkeley Daily Gazette, 5 June 1912, pg 1, cols 5–6, under "High School Head Resigns", continued on pg 8, col 1
Summary: Re-appointment of principals and re-election of teachers. Joseph L. Blumb, Nelle I. Boston, Ella L. Weymouth, Rose S. Ismert, and Ada G. Jordan
Oakland Tribune, 25 April 1914, pg 14, col 1, under "Wedding to Unite Pioneer Familes"
Item Number: n525
Summary: An engagement was announced at a re-union of the Ismert family, the descendants of Eva Ismert, including Rose Ismert and Frances Weymouth, in Irvington. Nellie, "who for many years has made her home with the Weymouth family", was a guest.
Notes: Mrs. John Wood is Anna Laura Beckstead (KC9H-T74 on FamilySearch). She is about 10 years older than Nellie, had a millinery business in Carson City in 1893 and 1894, and married John H. Wood in 1894. Nellie also visited her in 1927.
Record Courier, 10 July 1914, pg 4, col 2, untitled item under "Items of Local Interest"
Item Number: n118
Full Text: Mr. and Mrs. C. Nielsen, Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Cardinal, Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wood, the Misses Aletha Nielsen, Arlie Jones, Nellie Boston, Lysle McInnis, Fred Settelmeyer spent Saturday and Sunday motoring on the California state highway, going as far as Riverton. The party took side trips to Echo Lake and other points of interest.
Notes: Arlie F. Jones, born 1897, was the daughter of Nellie's uncle David M. Jones.
1914–1915
nothing
1916–1917
Oakland Tribune, 31 May 1916
Summary: Article on Berkeley Board of Education matters. Includes the Superintendent's recommendation for the appointment of teachers for the 1916–1917 school year. Nelle I. Boston, Ella L. Weymouth, Rose Ismert are listed under "Grammar Grades".
Summary: Berkeley opened a municipal hospital to care for influenza patients at barracks on the campus of the University. The hospital is operating almost entirely by volunteers. Since schools are closed due to the outbreak, teachers are giving their time to the effort, Nelle Boston and J. L. Blumb among them.
Oakland Tribune, 4 July 1920, pg 19, col 1, untitled item under "Livermore"
Item Number: n122
Full Text: Miss Nellie Boston of Oakland, formerly a teacher in the Livermore grammar school, paid a brief visit to friends here this week while returning from a trip to Lake Tahoe.
Notes: Herbert Beverly Coil was the husband of Holly Dungan.
1921–1922 school year
Oakland Tribune, 6 Dec 1921, pg 32, col 4, under "Hospital Sick to Partake of Holiday Cheer
Item Number: n518
Summary: Nellie was on the Visiting Committee of an organization called the County Hospitals Christmas Committee (sometimes with "Tree" inserted after "Christmas") which provided Christmas festivity for the inmates of county institutions, including the Arroyo Sanitarium. The organization goes back at least to 1918.
Oakland Tribune, 14 April 1922, pg 18, col 3, under "Easter Program for Arroyo Sanitarium"
Item Number: n519
Summary: The County Hospital Christmas Committee provided a program of entertainment and lunch to patients at the Sanitarium. Nellie Boston and Ella Weymouth were in charge of flowers and baskets.
Sacramento Bee, 18 April 1922, pg 6, col 5, an item under "Sacramento County Jots: Folsom"
Item Number: n124
Full Text: Miss Nellie F.[sic] Boston, who is a teacher in the Berkeley Grammar School and who has been spending the past week's vacation as a guest of the homes of he[r] cousins, Mrs. Hugh McHugh and Mrs. Lloyd Jones in Folsom, has returned to Berkeley.
Notes: Lloyd Jones was the son of Nellie's uncle Hiram W. Jones. In the 1920 census, Lloyd's parents are living in his household. McHugh is a mystery yet to be solved.
Searchlight (Redding, CA), 25 July, 1922, pg 4, col 1, untitled item under "Shasta Saunterings"
Item Number: n521
Full Text: Miss Ella Weymouth and Miss Nellie Boston of Berkeley arrived in Shasta Thursday to remain a few weeks at the home of Mrs. Lena B. Oliver, who now resides in Berkeley. Miss Weymouth is a sister of Mrs. J. L. Blumb, who with J. L. Blumb is visiting Mrs. A. C. Early of Shasta
Sacramento Bee, 16 Aug 1922, pg 20, col 5, brief item titled "Complete Vacation"
Item Number: n125
Full Text: Shasta, Aug 16[?].—Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Blumb, Miss Ella Weymouth, and Miss Nellie Boston, after spending part of the summer here in the home of Henry Blumb, left by automobile last week for their homes in Berkeley.
Notes: "Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Blumb" are Eva Weymouth and husband.
1926–1927 school year
Reno Evening Gazette, 22 July 1927, pg 11, col 5, untitled item under "Carson Notes in Newsy Form" at the top of the previous column
Item Number: n126
Full Text: Miss Nellie Boston, teacher in the Berkeley schools, is visiting Mrs. Laura Beckstead Wood. Miss Boston was a graduate of the Carson high school a few years ago.
Notes: Anna Laura Beckstead, 8 to 10 years older than Nellie, from Carson City; married to John H. Wood. Nellie visited her in 1914.
1938–1939 school year
Oakland Tribune, 20 April 1939, pg 17, col 1, under "School Equipment Bids Are Called"
Item Number: n127
Summary: In an article about Board of Education business, the last paragraph reported that the resignation of Nelle I. Boston of Lincoln School had been accepted.
Chap. CXLV: An Act to Provide for the Maintenance and Supervision of Public Schools. [Approved March 20, 1865.], Statutes of Nevada: First Session, 1864
Item Number: p20
Excerpts:
Sec. 29. The School Trustees shall have power, and it shall be their duty: ... Third, to divide the public schools within their district into primary, grammar and high school departments, and to employ competent and legally qualified teachers for the instruction of the different departments, whenever they shall deem such division into departments advisable; provided, there be sufficient means for all such departments, and if not, then in the order in which they are herein named, the primary school having preference. ...
Sec. 33. No teacher shall be entitled to receive any portion of the Public School moneys as compensation for services rendered, unless such teacher shall have been legally employed by the Board of Trustees, nor unless such teacher shall have had a certificate from the State Board of Examination, or from the County Board of Examination, in full force and effect ...
Sec. 41. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction shall appoint three competent persons in each county within this State, who shall be and constitute a Board of Examination, for the purpose of examining applicants and granting certificates of qualification to teachers of public schools. ... They shall only grant certificates to such persons as shall pass a satisfactory examination, which certificate shall remain in force for two years, unless revoked for good cause shown. ... Said Board of Examiners shall have power to grant certificates of the following grades: Certificates of the first grade, for teaching unclassified grammar and high schools, which shall be good for two years; certificates of the second grade for teaching primary schools, which shall be good for one year. Said certificates shall be issued to such persons only as have passed a satisfactory examination in the branches of study pursued in each specified grade of the public schools, and shall have given evidence of good moral character and fitness to teach ... Said Board shall have power to renew the certificates of a teacher who is successfully and continually engaged in teaching in the county, without a re-examination.
Note: According to section 41 of the Act, a first grade certificate was "for teaching unclassified grammar and high schools", whereas a second grade certificate was "for teaching primary schools". According to Google, the phrase "unclassified grammar and high schools" is found nowhere else but in this statute, and I did not find a definition of it in the statute. The terms "primary", "grammar", and "high school" are the names of departments into which schools could be divided, as provided for in section 29. The usual sense of "primary" grades is that they are the first two or three years of school, and "grammar" grades are the grades that follow the primary grades, up to but not including high school, which could be the equivalent of fourth through ninth grades in the system with which we are familiar. And the usual sense of "grammar school", in the United States", includes the primary grades. An "unclassified" school probably meant a school which was not divided into primary and grammar departments. In 1892, according to Table 24 in the "Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction" (below), 142 out of 258 (over 50%) of the public schools in Nevada were unclassified. The language of the 1865 statute, which was still in force in 1893, probably means that the holder of a first grade certificate is qualified to teach in an unclassified school, a grammar school, or a high school. High school certificates were not introduced until 1895.
Chap. LXXXI: An Act amendatory of an Act entitled "An Act to provide for the maintenance and supervision of Public Schools", approved March twentieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, and of Acts amendatory thereof. [Approved March 7, 1873.]. Statutes of the State of Nevada Passed at the Sixth Session of the Legislature, 1873, Carson City, NV: State Printint Office, 1873. pgs 156–162
Item Number: p23
Excerpt: Sec. 12. Section forty-one of said Act is hereby amended so as to read as follows:
Section Forty-one. The County Superintendent shall appoint Boards of two competent persons, who, with himself, shall be and constitute a Board of Examination, of which he shall be the Chairman. ... Said Board of Examiners shall have power to grant certificates of the following grades: Certificates of the First Grade—For teaching unclassified grammar, and high schools, which shall be good for two years; Certificates of the Second Grade—For teaching primary schools, which shall be good for one year.
Note: A comma is added, which separates "unclassified grammar" from "high School", a small step in the direction of clarity, but a comma at least is needed after "unclassified".
Chapter X: Public Schools, in General Statutes of the State of Nevada in Force from 1861 to 1885, Inclusive. .... Carson City, NV: State Printing Office, 1885.
Item Number: p19
Summary: See section 1329: The definition of "certificates of the first grade" appears to be unchanged.
Note: I have searched the Statutes of Nevada for 1887 through 1893 on the Nevada Legislature Law Library web page and not found any acts to amend the "Act to Provide for the Maintenance and Supervision of Public Schools" that changed the definition of a first grade certificate relative to the 1885 General Statutes compilation.
"Table No. 24: "Miscellaneous Statistics for 1892", in Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the Years 1891–1892. Carson City, NV: State Printing Office, 1893. pg 31,
Item Number: p24
Summary: 57 primary schools, 17 intermediate schools, 142 unclassified schools, 33 grammar schools, 9 high schools, out of a total of 258 schools.
Chap XCII: An Act to Provide for Uniform Examinations for Teachers' Certificates ... in Statutes of the State of Nevada Passed at the Sixteenth Session of the Legislature, 1893. Carson City, NV: State Printing Office, 1893.
Item Number: p18
Summary: The is the "new law" under which examinations were held when Nellie took the examination in July 1893.
Nevada State Journal, 23 June 1893, pg 3, col 2, under "Uniform Examination Law: The State Board of Education Preparing to Comply with Its Provisions"
Item Number: n372
Summary: The article summarizes the "Act to Provide for Uniform Examinations ..." by printing, mostly word-for-word, the first sentences of each section. The last two paragraphs of the article are about steps taken by the State Board of Education to comply with the new law for examinations to be held in July.
Chap. XCV: An Act to amend an Act entitled ''An Act amendatory of an Act entitled 'An Act to provide for the maintenance qnd supervision of public schools,' approved March 20, 1865," and of Acts amendatory thereof, approved March 7, 1873. [Approved March 16, 1895.]. Statutes of the State of Nevada Passed at the Seventeenth Session of the Legislature, 1895, Carson City, NV: State Printing Office, 1895. pgs 87–88
Item Number: p22
Excerpt: The County Superintendent shall appoint connty two competent persons who with himself shall be and constitute a Board of Examination, of which he shall be Chairman. Said Board shall be constituted for the purpose of examining applicants for teachers' certificates and granting certificates of qualification for teaching in the public schools. They shall hold examinations at such times as may be provided by law, and be governed by such rules and regulations as the State Board of Education may from time to time direct. They shall grant certificates, except as hereinafter provided, to such persons only as shall pass a satisfactory examination. The certificate so granted shall remain in force as specified in this section, unless revoked for incompetency, immorality or gross neglect of duty. Said Board shall have power to grant certificates of the following grades: High school grade, for teaching a high school, which shall be good for four years; grammar grade, for teaching unclassified and grammar schools, which shall be good for three years; primary grade for teaching a primary school, which shall be good for two years. High school and grammar certificates shall entitle the holders to teach in high schools and grammar schools respectively; a primary certificate shall not entitle the holder to teach any class or classes pursuing high school branches. The certificate provided for in this section shall be issued to such persons only as pass a satisfactory examination in the branches of studies pursued in each specified grade of the public schools, and such additional studies as the State Board of Education may direct, and shall have given evidence of good moral character and of fitness for teaching.
Notes: 1. "unclassified and grammar schools" is grammatically correct, and can be interpreted as two separate kinds of school, but why not just put "schools" after "unclassified" to make it as clear as possible? 2. This act adds a high school certificate.
Henry C. Cutting, Compiled Laws of Nevada: In Force: From 1861 to 1900 (Inclusive). Carson City, NV: State Printing Office, 1900. pgs 302–326
Item Number: p21
Excerpt: 1316. Sec. 41. The County Superintendent shall appoint two competent persons who with himself shall be and constitute a Board of Examination, of which he shall be Chairman. ... Said board shall have power to grant certificates of the following grades: High school grade, for teaching a high school, which shall be good for four years; grammar grade, for teaching unclassified and grammar schools, which shall be good for three years; primary grade, for teaching a primary school, which shall be good for two years. High school and grammar certificates shall entitle the holders to teach in high schools and grammar schools respectively; a primary certificate shall not entitle the holder to teach any class or classes pursuing high school branches.
Nathan Newmark, Political Code of the State of California as Enacted in 1872, and Amended in 1889. San Francisco: Bancroft-Whitney, 1889.
Item Number: p25
Excerpts:
1771. County Boards of Education have power: ... Third—To examine applicants, and to prescribe a standard of proficiency which will entitle the person examined to a certificate, and to grant certificates of three grades, valid except in incorporated cities having Boards of Education, as follows: ... 3. Primary: valid for two years, authorizing the holder to teach any primary school.
1772. Except as provided in section seventeen hundred and seventy-five [cases in which the board may grant a certificate without an examination], certificates shall be granted only to those who have passed a satisfactory examination in all the studies prescribed by the county board of education; provided, that applicants for primary county eertiflcates shall be required to pass an examination only in arilhmetic, grammar, geography, composition, history of the United States, orthography, defining, penmanship, reading, methods of teaching, school law, industrial drawing, physiology, entomology, civil government, elementary book-keeping, and vocal music. [Approved March 15, 1889.]
Note: entomology was dropped from the examination subjects for the primary certificate in 1893, according to the Deering's Political Code, 1897 (listed below).
Deering, James H. The Political Code of the State of California: As enacted in 1872, and amended up to and including 1897. San Francisco: Bancroft-Whitney, 1897.
Notes: She is on line 36, a boarder in the household of Thomas E. Knox. The census was enumrated in June. Her birth month and year is July 1875, and her age is 24.
1910
Household of Albert Weymouth, United States Census, 1910, California, Alameda County, Oakland Township, Berkeley City (Part of), ED 61, Sheet 3A, dwelling 138, household 155
Notes: The street address is 1916 Woolsey Ave. Head of household is Albert Weymouth. Included in the household: Ella L. Weymouth, 38, daughter, public school teacher; Rose Ismert, 37, boarder, public school teacher; Nellie Boston, 33, boarder, public school teacher. Enumerated in April.
1920
Household of Albert Weymouth, United States Census, 1920, California, Alameda County, Oakland Township, Berkeley City, ED 167, sheet 1B, dwelling 15, household 19
Notes: Street address 1916 Woolsey street. Head of household is Albert Weymouth. Included in the household: Ella L. Weymouth, 48; Nellie I. Boston, 44; Rose S. Ismert, 47. Enumerated in January.
1930
Household of Berca Stevens, United States Census, 1930, California, Alameda County, Oakland Township, Oakland City, ED 1-45, sheet 5A (handwritten), dwelling 95, household 113
Notes: Street address 6367 Telegraph Ave. Head of household is Berca Stephens. Included in the household: Nelle I. Boston, 55, Roomer. Enumerated in April.
1940
Household of Nellie Boston, United States Census, 1940, California, Alameda County, Oakland Township, Oakland, ED 61-20, sheet 2A (handwritten), household 41
Notes: Street address: 505 Alcatraz Ave. That address has 14 units listed on the page, one or two people in each household. Nellie Boston, head, 65, two years of college. Enumerated April 4, 1940. She is head of household and the only person in her household, so we expect the enumerator would have got her information directly from her, unless she was away from home for the entire time.
1950
Household of Nelle Boston, United States Census, 1950, California, Alameda County, Oalkand, ED 67-407, sheet 75 (handwritten), household 23
Notes: 1. See sheet 2, line 13. The enumerator noted that the occupant of apartment 9 was not home, followed by note to see sheet 75 line 17. This means that the enumerator had to go back to interview her. 2. Street Address: 505 Alcatraz. Nelle Boston, head, age 75. She was the head of household and the only person in her household, so we have to assume that the enumerator got her information directly from her. On sheet 75, "date sheet started" is April 6.
Directories
Husted's Oakland, Berkeley and Alameda Directory: 1906. Oakland: Mrs. F. M. Husted, 1906.
Summary: Index entry for Nelle I. Boston in an index of California death records compiled by the California Department of Health Services, Vital Statistics Section, avaiable on the FamilySearch website.
Notes: Gives date of birth as July 7, 1875, but this could be incorrect. The deceased's date of birth on a death certificate is often supplied by an informant, such as a family member, and can be incorrect.
Confirmations, Early Records of the Grace Episcopal Church of Livermore, California, transcribed by the Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society.
Nellie I. Boston, L6FG-3DB, FamilySearch, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Details Page
Item Number: a8
Note: From the About FamilySearch page: "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides FamilySearch free of charge to everyone, regardless of tradition, culture, or religious affiliation". It is free to view and use, but requires registration. The information is contributed by multiple users and must be evaluated skeptically. I have found the site to be useful for my historical research. I have contributed to the site and I have tried to revise and correct the information available there based on my research. But you may still encounter erroneous information and dubious conclusions there.
S. D. Waterman. History of the Berkeley Schools. Berkeley, 1918.